Chocolate cake gets an exciting makeover with three distinct chocolate flavours hidden beneath luscious vanilla marshmallow buttercream in this Triple Chocolate Layer Cake. It’s a simple but effective concept.
March is my crazy month of birthday cake baking. This year, I think I smashed my record by making 4 cakes in the space of just 10 days. That’s a lot of eggs. A lot of icing. A lot of cake. It really is a cake-a-thon. It’s now the last day of March and I’ve been so caught up in birthdays, parties and cakes that I have not yet managed to share with you the highlights of my cake dominated month. It’s time to correct that.
First of all, I’ll be talking about this wonderfully indulgent Triple Chocolate Layer Cake with Marshmallow Buttercream that was my younger daughter’s birthday cake. And just to amuse you, I’m going to share with you my… um… major kitchen catastrophe involving a Piñata cake that I hope anybody about to attempt such a cake will learn from. The rest of you can just sit back and snigger wildly at my expense.
Okay, the Triple Chocolate Layer Cake. We’re talking about three distinct layers of light & bouncy chocolate sponge cake:
- White chocolate & vanilla – sweet & fresh
- Malted milk chocolate – homely, comforting chocolate heaven
- Dark Chocolate – satisfyingly intense
What’s not to love?
Then there’s the topping of almost too good to be true, lusciously light vanilla marshmallow buttercream. It’s a regular buttercream with the addition of Marshmallow Fluff & flecked with vanilla seeds. This buttercream is my absolute favourite – you may remember it from my Pumpkin Pie Whoopie Pies. It is everything you could wish for in an icing: sweet, light, fluffy, easy to spread and, without a doubt, a step up from standard buttercream.
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I knew I was onto a winner for my girl with this Triple Chocolate Layer Cake. She adores chocolate & marshmallows so to have a multitude of chocolate all stacked up into a birthday cake and then include marshmallow in the icing was like a dream come true for her.
I try hard to make Hannah & Milly a cake for their actual birthday that I know they will love. Something that ties in with their personality. Something a little different. Yes, this Triple Chocolate Layer Cake is essentially a large chocolate cake. But the different layers that are revealed once the cake is cut into takes it over the edge. It is far more exciting than a typical chocolate sponge and that’s why it was perfect for Milly.
I’d say this Triple Chocolate Layer Cake is ideal for any chocolate lover – child or adult. It was a hit with everybody around our tea-table. One or two people picked out their favourite layers, but most, me included, just fell for the entire bundle.
Please note: the recipe listed is for a three layer cake made in six-inch cake pans but I have included some instructions on scaling up to large pans in the recipe notes.
Okay, so time to talk about my other noteworthy cake baking experience of the last month. Now, we all know kids and their birthday cakes – they tend to like something fun. Well, my girls have been slightly obsessed by Piñata cakes over the last few years. There are two versions of Piñata cakes:
- There’s the version like this one that has the middle of a cake scooped out and filled with sweets so that when you cut into it the sweets are revealed (the easy version)
- Then there’s the version like this one that hides a cake topped with sweets underneath a dome of chocolate. The birthday child gets to smash the dome with a rolling pin to reveal the sweets and cake underneath. (The immensely fun but not so easy to make version)
Guess which one my girls like? Yes. The chocolate dome.
One way to make that dome is to cover a blown up balloon in melted chocolate. Once set the balloon is popped and a perfect dome of chocolate is revealed. Last year I made them both one of these Piñata cakes without a hitch. (Well, almost no problem apart from a slight accident after it was made.).
Confession: this year I got complacent. Just because I managed it last year no problem, it never crossed my mind that anything would go wrong.
Obviously, things went spectacularly wrong.
Picture me covering a large balloon with 400g melted chocolate. Now picture that balloon bursting and flying all around my kitchen. It made a lot of mess. I think I was wearing about 100g of melted chocolate at that point. Are you laughing yet? It gets worse.
Please don’t judge me when I tell you that in my chocolate splattered mind, I quickly assumed that the balloon must have been weak. So, not only did I blow up a second balloon but I also switched places in my kitchen to get away from the mess that the.. er…. accident had created.
I set to work covering this second balloon.
BANG.
Yes. It happened again.
And no, I really didn’t see it coming.
This time I gave up. Every wall in my kitchen was covered in chocolate. The floor. The ceiling. The Clock. The fruit bowl. Me. Even the inside of the toaster took a hit. It was as if 2 chocolate bombs had exploded.
I resolved that the Piñata cake would not be happening. Those balloons must be really, really weak. (Please, between your guffaws, forgive my feeble mind.)
I threw in the towel, threw my clothes in the wash and threw myself into the shower before starting the clean-up of my chocolate laden kitchen… The clean up that would take in excess of 3 hours.
Thirty minutes into the clean up operation I came to the bowl that had contained the melted chocolate to find that what remained was still liquid. That’s when the truth hit me (like a wet balloon covered in chocolate right between my eyes): those balloons were not weak, the chocolate was far too hot.
What had I been thinking? More to the point, why hadn’t I been thinking? The cause of my problem was suddenly so ridiculously obvious to me.
Having lost my mind and 300g chocolate 45 minutes earlier, I found myself confidently blowing up a third balloon and giving it a go with what remained of the now cooled, but still liquid chocolate in the bowl. Success. The chocolate dome was made.
Later that day I collected my girls from school and told them the grim news: the Piñata cake was ready, but it would be the last Piñata cake I ever make. To which Hannah replied that she would do it next year. Nooooooo.
If you’re considering making a Piñata cake, take my advice. Don’t do it. Go for the Triple Chocolate Layer Cake instead. It’s not only far tastier but it’s infinitely easier to make. But please, please, do share your kitchen disasters with me – I can not be the only lunatic out there, surely….
- 180 g/ 6 1/2oz softened butter
- 180 g/ 6 1/2oz caster sugar
- 3 eggs
- 5 tbsp milk
- 180 g/ 6 1/2oz plain (all purpose) flour (sifted)
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 50 g/ 2oz white chocolate - finely chopped
- 50 g/ 2oz milk chocolate - finely chopped
- 50 g/ 2oz dark chocolate - finely chopped
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 tbsp Ovaltine (chocolate malt powder)
- 1 1/2 tbsp cocoa powder
- 125 g/ 4 1/2oz softened butter
- 250 g/ 9oz icing (confectioner's) sugar
- 125 g/ 4 1/2oz cream cheese
- 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
- 150 g vanilla Marshmallow Fluff
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Preheat the oven 170°/ 325°F/ GM3
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Grease and line 3 x 6 inch circular baking tins (note these are smaller than average tins - if you are using 8.5 inch tins see my notes on how to scale up the recipe)
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Melt the 3 types of chocolate in separate bowls. Set aside
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In a bowl beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, using electric beaters. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well between each addition
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Add 3 tbsp of milk and beat again. Sift the flour and baking powder into the bowl and mix well
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Divide the cake batter equally into 3 small mixing bowls
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For the White Chocolate & Vanilla Sponge: from the first mixing bowl take a tablespoon of the cake batter and stir it quickly into the melted white chocolate. Then gently fold this white chocolate mixture and the vanilla extract back into the bowl containing the rest of the cake batter. This double-action will stop the chocolate from seizing when it is mixed into the cake batter. Gently spoon the batter into one of the baking tins and spread it out with a blunt knife
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For the Malted Milk Chocolate Sponge: stir an extra tablespoon of milk and the Ovaltine powder into the second bowl of cake batter. From this bowl, take a tablespoon of the cake batter and stir it quickly into the melted milk chocolate. Then fold this chocolate mixture back into the rest of the cake batter. Spoon the batter into another of the baking tins & spread it out
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For the Dark Chocolate Sponge: stir an extra tablespoon of milk and the cocoa powder (sifted) into the remaining bowl of cake batter. Quickly mix a tablespoon of this cake batter into the melted dark chocolate, then fold this chocolate mixture back into the rest of the cake batter. Spread the batter into the last of the baking tins
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Bake all three cakes for 20-25 minutes until the cake springs back when lightly pressed or a skewer comes out clean
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Let cool in the tins for 2 minutes, then remove from the tins, peal off the baking parchment from the bottom of each sponge cake and let cool completely on a wire rack
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Put the icing sugar, butter & vanilla paste into a large bowl and beat until smooth
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Beat in the cream cheese until smooth, then mix in the marshmallow fluff
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Lay the white chocolate sponge cake onto a board and spread a heaped tablespoon of the icing on top, then place the malted milk chocolate cake carefully on top of the layer of icing
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Top with another spoonful of icing, spread it out and add the dark chocolate layer of cake
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Once the final layer of cake has been added, carefully spread a thin layer of icing all over the top and sides of the cake - a palette knife is good for this. I find that coating the cake in a thin layer all over helps to seal in the crumbs. Once you have done this, use the remaining icing to create a thicker layer that covers the cake entirely.
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Carefully move your cake onto a serving plate and touch up the icing if necessary. Once you are satisfied, you can add a pattern if you want to. I used the back of a dessert spoon to lift the icing in places to give a rugged appearance
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Decorate with crushed or chopped chocolate if desired
This recipe uses 3 x 6 inch circular cake tins. If you wish to use standard 8.5 inch tins, my suggestion is to simply double the recipe. In an ideal world, you would scale up the recipe to bake it using 5 eggs, but that leads to some fiddly measurements. Making double is far easier - just ensure you do not fill your sandwich tins more than 2/3 full with the batter and use the leftover batter to make a few cupcakes. You perhaps will not need to double the buttercream though - I'd suggest making 1.5 times that stated in the recipe.
demeter | beaming baker
Woah, Jane! 4 cakes in 10 days? Color me incredibly impressed. Cake’s a bit tricky for me too, so consider me doubly impressed! Your Triple Chocolate Layer Cake with Marshmallow (!!) Buttercream looks heavenly. Just heavenly.
Hannah and Milly sound like the luckiest girls in the world. They’re so fortunate to have a mom that would so thoughtfully plan out and bake a cake that suits their personalities. 🙂
Wow. The 2nd version of the piñata cake… just wow. So was the chocolate too hot for the balloon? Goodness, the whole scene sounds like such a nightmare! Okay, major props to you for having finished that cake anyway. Consider the rest of us legitimately forewarned. Btw, Jane, I was completely gripped during that entire tale!
Thanks for sharing this amazing cake. I now have the wisdom to appreciate that it is not a piñata cake. Haha. Have a great weekend!
Jane Saunders
Hi Demeter, thankyou. They are lucky little things, but they so deserve it! I much prefer regular cakes like this one to themed cakes, but while they are young, I’ll indulge them for their parties. So far I’ve done numbers, the piñata (once too many times – yes the chocolate was far too hot), teddy bears, roller skates, a treasure island, a love heart and a great one this year for the number 10 – a glass of cola and a pizza. I can’t help but wonder/ worry what’s in store for next March!
Mary
Hi Jane,
Do you think this cake would with stand fondant?
A beautiful cake by the way. It looks so impressive. A real labour of love. Thank you for sharing it.
Jane Saunders
Hi Mary. Thanks for getting in touch. I see no reason why not – I’m appalling at fondant icing, but let me know how you get along.
Thalia @ butter and brioche
Wow this cake looks amazing & I love the ombre layers!
Jane Saunders
thanks so much, Thalia
Michelle @ Giraffes Can Bake
This cake is incredible, I can’t stop looking at it! It’s beautiful and just looks so yummy. That frosting – *droooool!*
Sharing!
I had a crazy month of cake baking too, think I need a break for a while before my next cake!
Jane Saunders
Thanks so much, Michelle. The trouble with life is so many cakes to bake and not enough time to eat them all – this is one of my new favourites though.
Meghan | Fox and Briar
Oh my goodness Jane! The chocolate explosion! I have to say that I am SO GLAD that did not happen to me, I would have lost it! But it was a tiny bit funny hearing the story 😉 I agree with Demeter, your girls are so lucky to have a mother that works so hard to make them the perfect cake! They will always remember that. And I am doubly impressed that you finished the pinata cake despite the disaster. Also THIS cake – I am in love! 3 kinds of chocolate and MARSHMALLOW frosting! Will you make this for me for my birthday? 😉
Jane Saunders
Ha Ha – it was more than a little funny, even at the time. It’s not going to be long before I make this cake again so I’ll mail you a slice 😉
Lynn | The Road to Honey
Ha! Ha! Let me take a moment and compose myself.
Chica. . .you sure are brave to attempt to make that darn dome a third time. After the first explosion, I definitely would have be done with it. . .like for the rest of my life. But such is a mother’s love. Only one question remains. . .are you still finding bits of chocolate here and there?
As for next year. . .well. . .my vote is for the ombre cake. Sure. . . a youngster might not find it as fun because it doesn’t spew candy after being beaten to death with a rolling pin. . .but it is equally beautiful. In the even you do decide to make another. . .I have a robotic mop that you can borrow. 😉
Jane Saunders
Oh gosh, Lynn. You are so funny. And yes, I am still finding bits of chocolate in random places. Pleeeease can I borrow your mop? And truth be told, I did not have time to get the chocolate off the ceiling for another week after the event. It became a bit of conversation feature whenever a visitor came. If I ever see another then I will be the one beating it to death with a rolling pin 🙂
Sarah
Every time I see this cake pop up on my screen I have to stop and admire how pretty it is – you’re a star!
Jane Saunders
ah, thankyou Sarah
Jeff
Beautiful cake. Sounds delicious.
Jane Saunders
Thanks Jeff
Nikki
This cake looks and sounds delicious!
I’m hoping to make it for my daughters birthday coming but will need to increase the size. I have square tins 27.5cm – I was going to make the batter base for each layer on its own rather than splitting into thirds. Do you think this would work and if so what would your recommended increase of the chocolate additions be – simply tripling?
Thank you – it is an inspiration.
Jane Saunders
Hi Nikki, I’m so thrilled you like my cake. Pleeeease send me a photo when you’ve made it. Wow 27.5cm cake tins, that’s going to be a deliciously large layer cake (I whole-heartedly approve). Allow me to get technical….
My measurements are for 3 x 6inch (aka 16cm) circular tins. Each tin has an area to fill of approx 200cm squared or 600cm squared in total (3x200cm).
Your square tin of 27.5 cm has an area of 756cm to fill, which is a little larger than the total for my 3 circular tins.
So… yes, you’ll definitely need at least the entire base for each layer – I’d expect slightly thinner layers though. And yes, I’d recommend just scaling up the flavour measurements by tripling them.
If you wanted to ensure thicker layers, I’d add a third extra of everything for each layer as well. So 60g butter & sugar, 1 egg, 1.5 tbsp milk, 60g flour, 3/4 tsp baking powder plus an extra third of each flavouring. If the mixture looks too much for the tin you can always convert the leftover batter into cupcakes.
When you bake the cake you may also need to cover it loosely with baking parchment for the last 10 minutes of baking or so if the edges look as if they are done but the centre is not. And in terms of length of bake – I’d guess anywhere between 35-50 minutes, but I’m assuming you’re not a novice when it comes to baking large cakes 😉
Best of luck. Awaiting your photo eagerly….
Nikki
Thank you so much for responding – I will definitely post a pic for you, her birthday isn’t until 4th June which gives me some time to play.
I’m a little hesitant to play with your cake as it looks perfect as it is – but having a large family 10-12 serves doesn’t cut it! and omg thank you for the baking parchment tip – I quite often increase recipes and crunchy edges ensue – I had never thought of something so obvious!
Thanks again…now fingers crossed!
Jane Saunders
A pleasure to help you Nikki. I really hope it works out well.
Denise
The cake looks divine ! Question for you, my soon to be 15 year old son’s birthday is coming up and being a soon to be 15 year old he has little preference to his cake or anything else. But he’s requested marble cakes before and chocolate so I think he would love the layers on this one . Here’s my question do you think a chocolate malt frosting would compliment this cake? I have a recipe I want to try and would love to try it with this one , or do you think you could add the malt to your frosting with success? Thanks so much!
Jane Saunders
Hi there Denise. I’m so pleased you like the cake and I’m sure it will hit the spot with your chocolate loving son for his birthday. I have to say, I think that the flavours of the chocolate malt frosting would match deliciously. Since my frosting is based on marshmallow, I’d go with your own frosting recipe to avoid confusing the two flavours this time around. You can always make it again for another occasion with the marshmallow frosting, just to see which you prefer 😉
Denise
Thanks! I’m looking forward to making it this week!
Jane Saunders
Anytime – enjoy….
Amanda
Hi Jane. I was looking at making this for my sons 3rd birthday to take to playgroup. If i leave out the dark Chocolate layer as it may be to much. Will it be to sweet with just the other 2 layers?
Jane Saunders
Hi Amanda. I’m so glad you’re tempted by it. Personally, I’ve never know a child find any cake too sweet. An adult may well prefer to have the serious dark layer in, but for kids I think it would be fine. You could always just frost the top and middle of the cake and leave the sides exposed to cut down on the sweet buttercream if you wanted to.
Amanda
I may make a “tester” first. I never thought of the buttercream. With the cream cheese to cut through the icing sugar is it a sickly sweet buttercream?
Jane Saunders
It is sweet, no doubt, but in a good way with the extra additions of cream cheese and marshmallow fluff. I think of it as posh buttercream – still very sweet but less sickly than normal buttercream.
Amanda
Thanks Jane.
Amanda
Hi Jane sorry to be a pain. I’m in NZ and the supermarket has marshmellow cream not fluff is that OK? I want to make my “tester” one this weekend. Really i just want some without 20 odd kids digging in but let’s call it a tester.
Jane Saunders
Hi Amanda – no worries. Um, I’m not familiar with marshmallow creme. I’m in the UK and can buy the American Marshmallow Fluff, which is like a soft, gooey, spreadable version of marshmallows. If Marshmallow Creme is similiar, my guess is that it will probably suffice. I hope that helps.
Amanda
Hi Jane. The 1st of of the sponges is out. I didn’t measure the pan as I assumed it was a normal size so the layers are really thin. Lucky it’s a tester. But I noticed the white choc layer is holey? Has air holes all through it when I pulled out of oven. Did I over work the batter?
Jane Saunders
Hi Amanda. yes, the recipe is for a smaller than average pan. If you want to bake 2 layers in 8 inch tins, I’d suggest making the entire recipe and dividing between the tins. You’ll need to increase the flavourings for the white and malted milk chocolate by 1/3 to do this.
How strange that only 1 layer is affected. I’ve just googled ‘holey sponge cakes’ and the suggestion is either too much raising agent (in my experience this also causes the cake to sag) or over working the batter. Apparently long strands of gluten develop causing too much air to get trapped. Since only one layer is affected, this seems the most likely cause.
Claudine
Made the cake for my husband!
Did not had the 6 in, just a 8.5, I had too made an half more recipe too have a much more bigger cake!
I had trouble with the chocolate too…It kind of got hard when mixing cake mix with the chocolate so I got all little pieces of chocolate in the mix!
I was almost depress but licking the bowl encoourage me it was sooo good!
The result was really nice even if each of the cake were not as thick as it should be! It was yummy and everyone enjoyed it! Sorry for my bad english!
Jane Saunders
Hi Claudine, I’m so pleased you enjoyed the cake. I’m going to put a note with measurements onto the recipe to help guide people who need to make it in 8 inch tins – that should help.
Re the chocolate going hard, it sounds as if it started to set before you got to mix it in thoroughly. I had the same issue when I made chocolate mousse recently – it was lumpy but still delicious. Ideally, you want to mix the chocolate and the cake batter within 5-10 minutes of melting the chocolate. And similar to mixing a tablespoon of egg whites into melted chocolate when making mousse, it’s important to quickly stir a tablespoon of the cake batter with the chocolate to help stabilise the chocolate temperature and stop it from seizing in the cake mix. I hope this helps for the next time you make it.
Lucy Parissi
Jane this cake is totally EPIC!! Beautifully made and photographed I can’t believe I haven’t come across it before. LOVE.
Jane Saunders
Thankyou – I feel the need to bake it again soon.
Melanie
Just found your wonderful looking cake and am thinking of making it for my husband’s birthday or for Easter, but with a regular chocolate buttercream frosting or even a ganache. Can I ask how tall your 6in cake pans are? I am an expat in the US and the only 6in pans I can find are a measly 3/4in tall and your cake’s layers look taller than that! I need new 8in pans so while I was ordering thought I’d splash out on 6in too, but not if they are going to be too short. Otherwise we have visitors from home coming soon and I might be able to persuade them to include cake pans in their luggage!
Jane Saunders
Gosh, Melanie, those are short pans. My mum had some like that years ago. My pans are about 1.25 – 1.5 tall ( not able to measure them at the moment). In my notes you’ll find suggestions for measures for 8 inch tins but if there’s only a few of you it will probably be too much cake to handle (??). Hope you get the pans you need in time to bake it. Thanks for getting in touch.
Kathy
Cake came out perfectly – thank you for a great recipe! Everyone at my daughter’s birthday was very impressed!
Jane Saunders
I’m so pleased it went down well with everybody, Kathy, it’s one of my favourites.
Lisa
I totally fell in love with your beautiful cake and knew I had to make it for my son’s 30th birthday! I even ordered 3 new 6″ pans so I could make it just like yours. I had trouble with the bake – in fact, I ended up making the cakes twice because my first attempt resulted in 2 of the layers falling into an ugly mess. They baked up quite nicely the second time and left me with quite a showstopper! When the cake was sliced and those beautifully colored layers peaked out from the fluffy marshmallow buttercream, everyone was very impressed. I can’t even remember the last time I received so many compliments. The cake baked up a little dense and heavy – not light and fluffy like I expected – so I might have done something wrong the second time too, but the flavor and appearance easily made up for any baking flaws on my part. After reading thru the comments, I think I may have let the chocolate sit too long after melting. I melted the chocolate first as stated in your directions, but I’m not a speedy baker so I took too long to get to the step where I actually used the melted chocolate. It seized up a bit when I mixed the tablespoon of batter into the chocolate, so I probably overworked the batter trying to combine them. The cake was such a hit however, that I’m definitely trying it again! Thank you so much for the recipe and your beautifully tempting pictures. Your photography and staging is as inspired and wonderful as your baking!
Jane Saunders
Hi Lisa, thanks for getting in touch and I’m delighted to hear that you and your family enjoyed the cake. Working with chocolate can be a little tricky until you are used to it. My chocolate tends to sit about 7-10 minutes after I’ve melted it before I use it. It’s important to mix that tablespoon of batter into the chocolate really quickly though (forget about being gentle) so that it doesn’t seize. Once you add the mix back to the rest of the batter that is the time to be gentle. It could well be that due to the chocolate seizing the batter was a little over-worked. That would certainly affect the texture of the cake. However, it could be old baking powder (it loses it’s potency over time) or a bad batch – I once opened a brand new pack and got to failed bake number 3 before I finally worked out that the problem was the baking powder. A bad batch wouldn’t happen often though, so I’d guess that it was most likely a little overworking or old baking powder. Do you know what happened first time around to leave 2 layers messed up?
Thankyou Lisa, for taking the time to comment and for sending me your photos – you did a great job and I’m so thrilled you’ll be making it again.
Lisa
Thanks again for all your helpful tips and advice! You are most generous with your time and your knowledge.
I’m not sure what I did wrong the first time to cause 2 fallen layers. I am just going to write it off to trying too hard. I knew that there would be other cakes at this party and I wanted mine to be the star! When I put a lot of pressure on myself to make something “perfect” I usually end up making a mistake or two! 🙂 I am so grateful to you for sharing your stories of an occasional fail. Knowing that someone with your talent and experience doesn’t always get it right the first time gives me the courage to shake off the disappointment from a mistake and keep going! You are truly an inspiration on every level!
PS… thanks for bringing up the possibility of old baking powder. Mine isn’t past the expiration date, but it’s been in my baking cabinet for quite a while. I am definitely testing it before baking anything else!
Jane Saunders
No problem Lisa. Bad baking days are like bad hair days – they spring up on you just when you least expect it and when the bake is more important than usual 🙁 Oh and speaking of baking fails I have a recipe from a very famous baker that I cannot get right – I’m sure it’s me, misinterpreting something, rather than the recipe at fault.
Alice
This cake looks amazing . I am planning to bake one soon. Can you tell me if there is a substitute for ovaltine
Jane Saunders
Thanks Alice, so please you like it. Ovaltine is a malted chocolate drink – it comes in powder form. Do you have an equivalent product where you are or maybe malted milk powder? I haven’t made the cake using malted milk powder but if you substitute it in I think it will work out fine – it may just be slightly lighter than the cake I photographed. I hope this helps – happy baking.
Alice Jessuraj
Hi Jane,
I tried this cake and it looks amazing. The white chocolate was perfectly done- soft and fluffy. but the dark choc and the milk ones turned out dry and crumbly. Can you help me understand how I could avoid this
Jane Saunders
Hi Alice, of course I’ll try to help. It’s really strange that the white came out perfectly but the other 2 were dry and crumbly. Can I first of all check that you made the batter up and divided into 3 before adding the chocolate? Assuming you did that rather than mixing each layer seperately, there are several reasons a cake can turn out dry. Oven temperature can be a big factor – did you bake all 3 cakes together or did the white one go into the oven separately from the other 2. Ovens can be pests if the temperature fluctuates. Another factor can be undermixing of the cake batter – I wonder if somehow the milk and plain cakes were less well mixed than the white chocolate? Another possible reason could be that the milk and plain chocolate cakes spent longer in the oven than the white. My final thought would be the chocolate used – I used regular white, milk and plain chocolate rather than cooking chocolate which tends to have a few different ingredients to normal chocolate. Hopefully one of these reasons will resonate. I hope you’ll give this recipe another go too – I’d love you to enjoy it at it’s best. Did you find a substitute for the ovaltine?
Paula Roberts
Hi Jane
I have just found your website and absolutely love the look of this cake! I really want to make it for a cake sale at my daughters school but I just wanted to ask your opinion on the icing. I would be making it the day before and icing it so do you think it would keep until the following afternoon? I normally keep them in airtight plastic containers when I do normal buttercream. Thank you for your help! Paula
Jane Saunders
Hi Paula. I don’t see why not. I usually end up making mine in advance then storing on the side – I have a large plastic salad bowl I can flip over to cover cakes like this to keep it clean. Failing that if you have a cake box that is tall enough go for that. Hope you enjoy it.
Paula Roberts
Thank you!
Maria Bazemore
I’d like to make this for my daughter’s third birthday. She’s asked for red icing on her cake. Will this buttercream hold up to piping if I wanted to do some red accents around the edge? Thanks!
Jane Saunders
Hi Maria, that sounds fun. I don’t think you’ll have any problem piping it. Can I make a couple of suggestions – if you think it’s too loose to pipe straight away let it firm up in the fridge for a short time and maybe try piping a little bit first (off the cake) to see how you get along.
Becky
Hi Jane, I have just come across this and after I stopped laughing at your chocolate explosions I thought I would offer some advice 😊 I make sugar bowls with balloons and after a couple of colourful sugar explosions I found that filling the balloon with cold water stops it from exploding! I hope you don’t give up on pinata domes.
Becky
Jane Saunders
Oh Becky, thankyou for your advice. Occasionally the photos of myself and my kitchen after the explosion pop up in my personal Facebook memories feed (as if I could ever forget). I’m sure I will venture back to these cakes at some point – maybe when I’m a Granny – but I’ll remember that tip. I think sugar explosions sound a bit more dangerous than chocolate ones 🙂
Lara
HI Jane – how many do you think it would feed at the larger size. Need a birthday cake for 25 people and my 10 yr old daughter is making it (with my help!)!
Jane Saunders
Hi Lara, how lovely. I’d say the 6 inch layer cake would serve 10-12 comfortably whereas the 8 inch layer cake would serve 16-18. I honestly think you’ll struggle to get 25 servings from it (sorry). If you go ahead and bake it, have fun. My tip would be to get your daughter to read through the instructions beforehand so she’s clear when & how to mix the chocolate into the cake batter to avoid it seizing up on her.
Tania
Gosh, this not only looks damn delicious the photos with the fairies are just gorgeous’! love, love, love!
Jane Saunders
Thankyou so very much Tania.
Jenna
Hello,this cake looks amazing and would like to make it for my chocolate obsessed daughters birthday. I am just wondering if I can eliminate the marshmallow from the icing? I am planning on doing a chocolate ganash drip cake so am worried the marshmallow will make this to sweet.
Jane Saunders
That sounds lovely. I can see why you might need to switch the frosting though. I’d switch out the marshmallow frosting for a regular buttercream or one from a drip cake if you have a recipe to hand. Happy baking.
Lauren
Hi Jane,
Your cake looks amazing and I’m in the process of recreating this (as a two tier version) for my niece’s Christening cake, however the milk chocolate layer is proving problematic for me. I have made several attempts and this layer always looks fine when baking but once out of the oven shrinks. I just wondered which Ovaltine it is that you use – the one that is to be mixed with milk or the one that is made with water? – this is the only thing I can think that could be making a difference, the white chocolate and dark chocolate layers have baked perfectly and I’m at a loss with this but don’t like to give up!
Jane Saunders
Hi Lauren, sorry to hear that the malted chocolate layer is misbehaving. How strange. I baked mine with the original ovaltine, which requires milk. Are you using the same flour, baking powder etc as with the other layers? Everything else equal I’m at a loss as to why this layer keeps shrinking for you. Fingers crossed the change in powder works.
Narine
Hi, I love your cake looks amazing. I recently started to learn how to make cakes, I will definitely make this.
Jane Saunders
Thanks Narine, I hope you enjoy your baking. Once you start, it’s hard to stop 🙂
Claudette Wesley
Hi, I want to make this cake for my sons birthday party. I want to make double barrel cake with six layers. Will his recipe produce a cake that is dense enough be stacked and not topple over?
Thanks!
Jane Saunders
Wow, that sounds like an epic cake. Lucky boy! The texture is very much that of a typical sponge cake – I’ve never attempted to stack a cake more than 3 layers high, so I can’t say for certain if it might topple. I’d suggest using cake dowling to offer support to be on the safe side. And perhaps make the bottom 3 layers slightly wider than the top 3 layers of you have a variety of baking tins. Hope that helps.
Ashley
Hello, Jane!
I love this cake, I made it for my birthday last year and it turned out great! Well, I’m not sure what’s going on now, but I made this cake for my sisters birthday a couple of weeks ago and it stuck to the pan horribly and fell all apart. I ended up having to cut the cakes into chunks and serve it as a trifle. It was a hit and the cakes were delicious, but I was really looking forward to serving the cake the wai yt was intended. I just tried to make the cake again, and the same thing has happened. I follow the recipe to a T…. except I make it in the 8” pans. Help, please!!
Jane Saunders
Oh, how strange. It sounds like an issue with the pans, to be honest. When you say the cake stuck to the pan, do you mean the base or sides or the pan? Did you grease and line the pans with baking parchment? I’ve had trouble with greaseproof paper rather than parchment and likewise, I’ve had difficulty making cakes if my pans get too old and loose their coating. Even with new pans I always grease and line with parchment. Hope my thoughts help.
Ashley
Thank you so much for your quick reply! The base of the cakes stick. I did grease the pans, but did not use parchment paper. I’m going to try again this morning using parchment paper, wish me luck! 🤞🏽🤞🏽
Jane Saunders
I’m sure that will make all the difference. Pesky tins.
Angela Barnett
BEAUTIFUL CAKE , DO YOU THINK I COULD COVER THE OUSIDE WITH CHOCOLATE GANACHE INSTEAD OF THE CREAM CHEESE ICING AND JUST HAVE THE CREAM CHEESE TO SANDWICH THE LAYERS TOGETHER.
Jane Saunders
Thanks Angela. I don’t see why you couldn’t customise the icing to your tastes and requirements. Let me know how it turns out.
MasterRusk
Made this for a birthday. Easy to make, delicious moist cake, easy to work with icing. Made a great impression when the cake was cut and the layers revealed. A hit all around. MasterRusk
Jane Saunders
Thankyou so much for taking the time to tell me how you got along. It makes my day to hear from happy readers.
Chloe
I made this cake for my boyfriend’s birthday and was thrilled with the result! I’ve never really made a full sized cake before, I usually stick to cupcakes or muffins, so was pleasantly surprised but the result. The chocolate did seize because I divided it equally into my three chocolate bowls before realising I was meant to divide it equally and *then* add it to my chocolate bowls – it still worked out fine though. The dark chocolate sponge was a tad dry from the cocoa powder even with the added milk, but it still tasted fab. Thank you for the recipe, I’ll definitely be making it again!
Jane Saunders
Thanks for taking the time to let me know how you got along Chloe – I’m thrilled you enjoyed it.